Title: CRAZY FOR YOU
Author: Rachel Lacey
Series: Risking It All, #2
On Sale: March 28, 2017
Publisher: Forever
Mass Market: $7.99 USD
eBook: $6.99 USD
The second book in Rachel Lacey's irresistible
contemporary romance series about three foster brothers who return to their
hometown to open an extreme sports business, perfect for fans of Kristan
Higgins, Rachel Gibson, and Jill Shalvis!
SHE'S TAKING A WALK ON HIS WILD SIDE
Emma Rush can't remember a time when she didn't
have a thing for Ryan Blake. Haven's resident bad boy is just so freakin'
hot-with tattoos, a motorcycle, and enough rough-around-the-edges sexiness to
melt all her self-control. Now that Emma's over being a "good girl,"
she needs a little help being naughty . . . and she knows just where to start.
Before Emma's brother enlisted in the military,
he made Ryan promise that he would protect her from everything--including
himself. When her brother doesn't come home, Ryan needs to turn his screwed-up
life around to honor his pledge. But he knows he's still not the right kind of
guy for someone as sweet as Emma. Only he can't stop wanting to be with her.
Wanting her. Falling in love with a good girl may be the craziest risk this bad
boy can take . . .
BUY THE BOOK HERE
Excerpt:
Ryan Blake held a bottle of Maker’s 46 in his right hand, a tumbler in his left. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the bottle.
It flipped once before landing
back in his grip, top down, ready to pour.He filled the tumbler,
set a napkin on the bar, and placed it in front
of the brunette on the other side. “Bourbon, neat.”
“You’re good.” She
picked up the glass and tipped it in his direction.
“Not what I was expecting
in this little bar in the
middle of nowhere.”
“I try,” he said with the friendly, semi-flirtatious smile he always used on single ladies seated at his bar. She wasn’t wrong. The usual clientele at The Drunken Bear had little
use for fancy liquor or
bartending tricks, but the trio in
front of him were tourists looking for a good time, and he’d see that they
had one.
“You were just about to tell me about this tattoo.”
She placed her hand on his biceps,
fingering the eagle he’d had inked there after he flew this coop ten years ago.
“That’s right.” He
shifted backward so that her hand slipped to the countertop. He encouraged flirting—it led to better tips and made the night more interesting—but this chick was getting
a bit too friendly,
considering the diamond
band on her left ring finger.
“This one was for spreading my wings. Thought
I’d fly far away, and yet, here I am back in Haven.”
“You’re from here then?” one of the other women asked, shamelessly ogling the tattoos on his arms while giving him an eyeful
of cleavage.
“Born and raised.
Moved around a lot, but I can’t seem to shake this place. It’s in my blood.” Once upon a time, he’d been hell bent on getting as far away from this sleepy North Carolina mountain
town as possible. Spent the better part of a decade drifting from place to place, taking with him only
what he could carry on his bike. Funny how things came full circle. He picked up an empty pilsner
glass another patron had
left behind.
“Ryan?”
He turned at the familiar
voice to find Emma Rush stand- ing there,
one hip propped
against the bar, and he damn near dropped the glass. Emma’s trademark ponytail and jog- ging pants were nowhere
in sight. Tonight, her blond hair cascaded over her shoulders in shiny waves, her blue eyes sparkled at him from behind a tasteful—yet sexy—amount of makeup, and her red top was tucked into a pair of jeans that fit her like a glove. He swallowed
past the sudden dry- ness in his throat. “Hey, Em. What brings you out tonight?” “Girls’
night,” she said with a smile,
gesturing to her friend Mandy, who stood by the door talking on her cell phone.
Emma slid onto an empty barstool. “I wasn’t
expect-
ing to see you.”
“I’m still here a few nights a week.” His new business
venture—Off-the-Grid Adventures, an
extreme outdoor
sporting facility
he’d opened with his good buddies Ethan Hunter and Mark Dalton
six months ago—was finally
bring- ing in enough income
that he soon wouldn’t need to
bartend to pay his rent. “What can I
get you?”
“Untapped
amber ale, please.” She watched
while he filled
a frosted mug. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
She lifted the mug to her lips and took a long drink.
“Damn, that’s good,” she said with a happy sigh, setting
it on the bar.
“Always been more of a pilsner
guy myself.” He tried
not to stare as she licked froth from her upper lip.
“Hi, Ryan.”
Mandy stepped up to the bar beside Emma. He leaned back, tearing
his gaze from Emma’s lips. “Hi.”
Emma turned to her friend with a smile. “Ready to get a
table?”
“Yep,” Mandy said. “Have fun, ladies.”
“We will.” With a wave, Emma walked off after her friend, and damn, those
jeans cupped her ass like perfection. No doubt about it, Emma looked hot tonight. And his thoughts
were way out of line. He’d promised
Derek he’d look out for his
little sister, not drool all over her.
“Your girlfriend?” the brunette at the bar asked, eyebrows
raised as she sipped her bourbon.
Ryan cleared his throat and dragged his eyes away from Emma. “Just a friend.”
“Mm-hmm.” The brunette gave him a look that said she didn’t believe
him.
He turned to check on his patrons at the other end of the bar, but his attention was once again diverted
by Emma— or rather, the preppy-looking businessman she was talking to now. Ryan couldn’t
make out their conversation, but the
guy wore an irritatingly smug smile, and Emma didn’t look at all happy to have
bumped into him.
Ryan moved down the bar, chatting
and pouring drinks
as he went, all the while keeping an eye on Emma. She was deep in conversation with the businessman, although
the guy seemed to be doing most of the talking. Emma smiled and nodded. She glanced up and met Ryan’s gaze, rolling her eyes at him with a smile while her companion
kept on talk- ing.
Next thing Ryan knew, the guy had slung an arm around her shoulders, gesturing wildly with his free hand while
Emma subtly edged away from him.
Ryan was around the bar and across the room before
he’d even realized what he was doing.
“Everything okay over here?”
Emma shrugged out from under the guy’s arm, but her smile wasn’t nearly as warm or genuine
as the one she’d given Ryan a few moments ago. “Yep.”
“We’re fine,” Obnoxious Dude answered. “Who are you?”
“Ryan Blake.
And you are?” “Tristan Farrell.”
“Tristan and I are . . . old friends,”
Emma said.
By old friends,
Ryan assumed she meant former flames.
And since she clearly wasn’t enjoying his company, it was time for Tristan to leave.
Ryan crossed his arms over his chest and stared him down, waiting
for the loser to get the message. It didn’t take long.
Tristan backed up,
his eyes darting toward the front door. “Well, it was great seeing you, Emma. Take
care.”
“You, too.” She
watched as Tristan
left the bar then turned to Ryan. “Forgot how much I dislike that guy.”
“He hassling you?”
Her eyes rounded. “No! Just talking
my ear off, really.
Sorry to distract you from your duties at the bar.”
“No problem.”
Keeping an eye on his patrons was
part of the job, although he was probably feeling
more protective of Emma right now than the situation called for.
“Right, well . . . looks like my table is ready.” She waved over
her shoulder as she walked away.
Ryan headed back behind the bar, turning his attention to the trio of tourists and their mostly
empty cocktails. “Any of you
ladies ready for a fresh drink?”
As it
turned out, they all were. While he mixed their cock- tails, he allowed his gaze to roam over to
Emma’s table. She was
deep in
conversation with her friends Gabby, Carly, and Mandy, all of
whom he
knew, none of whom made his
gut tighten the way
it did
every time he looked at Emma tonight.
He had no idea where this had come from, but he had to get over it, pronto.
Emma wasn’t interested in a player like him, and even if she were, she was off limits. He’d made a promise
to her brother when Derek went off to war, and Ryan had no intention of breaking it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Lacey is a contemporary romance author
and semi-reformed travel junkie. She's been climbed by a monkey on a mountain
in Japan, gone scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and camped out overnight
in New York City for a chance to be an extra in a movie. These days, the
majority of her adventures take place on the pages of the books she writes. She
lives in warm and sunny North Carolina with her husband, son, and a variety of
rescue pets.
THE RISKING IT ALL SERIES
ROCK WITH YOU, #.5
RUN TO YOU, #1
CRAZY FOR YOU, #2
CAN’T FORGET YOU, #3
FOLLOW FOREVER ONLINE
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